An Inside Look (Gen 2)

Genesis 2

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ² And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

The heavens and the earth were finished in this era of the Creation of Man as we know it. The heavens were the sky and atmosphere of the earth. The host were all the bodies of matter and the systems they operate in in the sky as they relate to the earth, such as the sun and moon and stars. When the planets and space were created, I’m not sure.

On the seventh day, God rested, which brings to mind the question, “How can God get tired so that he needs rest?” But rest does not necessarily mean that someone must be tired. Rest merely means to break from your work and to take some time to enjoy the fruit of it with the people you share it with. God rested, he finished his work and took the seventh day to enjoy it with his children. Perhaps God designed mankind as needing rest from his physical labor, to ensure that he would make it a priority to enjoy the fruit of it with the people he loves and with God, his Father. Idk… but I am sure it was not that God was exhausted and weak and needed a day to re-coop.

⁴ These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

⁵ When no bush of the field^[a] was yet in the land^[b] and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, ⁶ and a mist^[c] was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— ⁷ then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground andbreathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. ⁸ And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Reading this initially, several questions came to mind. I wondered how man could be created before any bushes or plant life had been created. Then it occurred to me that Genesis 1 was a detailed and ordered account of creation.. the plant life was created, it just hadn’t begun to break forth out of the ground. The land was still barren appearance-wise, when man was created and given life. Then God created the Garden of Eden, with fully grown trees and plant life for food to sustain him until the rest of the earth had time to ripen. And here in this garden, God also planted the two trees which seemed separated from the rest of the plant life. I am not sure why. But their presence was clearly necessary if man was to be free to choose obedience and relationship  with God or not. They provided freedom to choose, and they protected the free will of mankind. The verses that follow go on to describe in more detail the placing of man in the Garden AFTER he was created on the earth. He was told to take care of it and rule and reign over it for God. With the exception of the two trees, the mandate was given that he was not to eat from them or he would die. That death would involve a complete death, physically (death of his body, returning to dust) and spiritually (second death, his eternal spirit separated from God).

¹⁰ A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat^[d] of it you shall surely die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for^[e] him.” ¹⁹ Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed^[f] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.²⁰ The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam^[g]there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made^[h] into a woman and brought her to the man. 

²³ Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
    because she was taken out of Man.”^[i]

After man was put in the garden, the animals that were created were all brought to him (also put into the garden after being created on the earth as man was). Man was told at this point to name each one in search of a suitable companion, a helper. But none was found. So God caused Adam to sleep, and he took a part of him to create woman. This is such a great picture of the Godhead.. Father, Son, and Spirit. She was taken from the Man (earthly father) just as the Son (Jesus) was taken from the Godhead to perform a specific role, temporary, but having lasting effects on many things including himself. She was given the role of HELPER just as the Holy Spirit was sent by Christ from the Godhead to perform the role of paraclete (one called alongside to help). There are so many levels in which mankind was created in the image of God, but they are all rooted in being One, in relationship with each other, in helping and serving and being a part of guarding the wholeness of all that is Good. That’s pretty incredible. What a beautiful thing to be a part of.. family.

The animals were brought to Adam, God knowing that none would be a suitable helper or companion to man. Adam just needed to sense the absence of the woman, in order to appreciate the role that God would create her to perform. The revelation of his need of her, as a friend and a soul-mate. Perhaps, it was so that he could feel the difference between a relationship that is outside of your spirit as compared to one that is created from within, a part of you, that thing that completes you and brings that sense of wholeness. Perhaps it was also to help him to value her for more than just the role she performed, her works, but to value her for who she was and is... to treasure the internal rather than just the external. 

Perhaps it was so that he would not see his role of having authority as being greater than her role of submission.. rather that her value as a wife, as family, as part of himself, that other that completes him would be the treasure of her worth. Seeing her as his equal, causes a sense of humility when he glimpses the sacrifice of her role of submission. She gives herself for the good of the family, while the man wields his authority for the good of the family. Both a reflection of Christ, both performing specific roles, both of great worth to each other and to God. 

One in Christ.. that is what makes a marriage work.
Anything else is death.


²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.²⁵ And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

This closing passage is so key because it emphasizes the replication of the family, and yet the limits. Every family formed on the earth becomes another mirror image of the Godhead, and speaks the name of God just by being. It is made clear that after children are raised to maturity they are to leave that family unit and form another.. repeating the name of God in the earth.. replenishing.. filling the earth with the glory of God.. not just bodies.

Honor is to be given always to our parents for their role and sacrifice and love for God and for us. But as adults, it is our calling and purpose to leave that family unit and birth another.. every time a family is formed in the earth it is a continual declaration of "Glory to God!"

I also love that they were naked. There was no doubt or lack of understanding.. purpose was clear and beautiful and valued.. there was absolute freedom because there was absolute obedience and ownership of the will of God. Some day, that freedom will return to us, because of the sacrifice and price that God paid to redeem us back to him once again. Some day, everyone will have made their choices to accept that freedom.. or to reject the free, yet costly gift offered to them.



~ On a side note.. I think it is just another reason that Scripture says that God hates divorce.. it mars the beauty that God designed the family to declare.. adultery, fornication, homosexuality.. all those sexual sins moves the family and each of us further away from the image of God.. the character of Christ.. declaring the Glory of the Lord in all the earth.

~ Yes, there is mercy and forgiveness.. but scars remain.. the church must do some serious back pedalling concerning all such issues that make divorce so acceptable and popular these days.